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Oct/Nov 2011 www.esb.ie/em
Energy International
Strong community Involvement!
Generation Operations Page 29
Shannon Fishery Partnership
Generation Operations
ESB, IN CONJUNCTION with the Shannon Fisheries and Preservation Development Co-operative (SFPDCL), officially launched the Shannon Fishery Partnership in Athlone on Tuesday, September 13th. The partnership is also supported by Inland Fisheries Ireland and sees all interested parties coming together as one group committed to rebuilding and conserving Shannon fish stocks.
While ESB has been involved in fisheries on the Shannon for over 70 years, this is the first time that anglers and commercial eel fishermen will have a direct input to the fishery work carried out by ESB in the catchment. It will also enable anglers to commit their own resources and skills to the initiative.
ESB Fisheries Manager Noel Greally said, “ESB welcomes this development and looks forward to working in partnership with those involved in the fishery. It will enable ESB to focus its resources within the catchment, and by working together, enable better use of scarce resources.”
Kevin Grimes, Chairman of the Shannon Fisheries Preservation and Development Co-operative said, “This partnership is the beginning of a new way of managing the Shannon Fishery. It will enable anglers and eel fishermen to have a meaningful input into rebuilding the Shannon Fishery and will enable anglers to use their resources to carry out scientific-based works on the fishery.”
Speaking at the launch, Eamon Cusack, Chairman of Shannon Fishery Partnership noted that the partnership had already drafted its first Annual Work Plan which saw work carried out throughout the fishery, and a five year rolling strategy, which is being developed with various stakeholders will be finalised by the end of October.
The launch featured presentations by ESB Fisheries staff members Tom Clancy and Dennis Doherty, which outlined the nature and standard of work completed by ESB Fisheries staff throughout the Shannon catchment. Dr. Philip McGinnity (UCC) and Jamie McGee (Queens University Belfast) gave an overview of two key scientific programmes, which are supported by ESB, taking place on the Shannon. The presentations were warmly received by a large gathering of anglers and other interested parties.
A pylon for the future
ESBI
ESBI, ROUGHAN & DONOVAN engineers and Knight Architects are one of six teams short-listed in a UK pylon-design competition that drew 250 entrants.
The competition was organised by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Competitions on behalf of the UK Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) and National Grid. Entrants were invited to rethink the conventional pylon and come up with a design that could deliver for future generations, while balancing the needs of communities and preserving the beauty of the countryside.
The Y-shaped pylon proposed by the team from ESBI, Roughan O’Donovan and Knight Architects is a simple and elegant structure that is over 15 metres shorter than the traditional steel lattice pylon. This is thanks to the key innovation in the design - the use of composite fibre materials to provide both structure and insulation, which allows the insulating connectors to be reduced from 5.2m to just a few centimetres.
A public exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum featuring scale models of the six shortlisted designs was opened by the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne on Wednesday September 14th. The exhibition will run until October 5th as part of the London Design Festival, during which time members of the public can comment on the designs. The judging panel will meet in October to select an overall winner.
A short interview with Martin Knight from Knight Architects discussing the design can also be viewed on the Science & Technology section of the BBC website.
